In English<\/strong>, we think that all pupils should be able to read fluently and write accurately and coherently<\/strong>. These skills set them up to succeed and flourish in secondary school and access a broad and balanced curriculum.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Can\u2019t fault that, can you? We all expect our children to be able to read, write and calculate, it\u2019s plain common sense. But here\u2019s the interesting part, the concerning part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve made huge progress recently \u2013 in 2019, 65% of pupils reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths, compared to 53% in 2016.<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Progress? Over a third of children hadn\u2019t reached expected standards in 2019 \u2013 pre-pandemic, pre-lockdown learning\/covid absences\/teachers isolating. Over a third weren\u2019t at the Government\u2019s expected levels then \u2013 what will 2022\u2019s figures be like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, is it all doom and gloom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I\u2019m minded to think the situation is like the curate\u2019s egg, good in some parts and fairly grim in others. There is no question that today\u2019s year 6s are hugely disadvantaged compared with the 2019 cohort, and unless we see a concerted effort to drive the number of cases down (by which I mean actually down, not just-not-testing-anymore-so-not-releasing-figures down) we will continue to see disruption. I can\u2019t remember the last time we didn\u2019t have at least one of our own student off sick \u2013 actually sick- with Covid. We need to take practical measures: ventilation, masking, and isolation for infectious students\/staff, and time for planning for remote delivery to those who are off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, and I can\u2019t stress this enough, Covid aside, we need to look closely at the Government\u2019s \u2018expected levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Expecting a 10-year-old to read, understand and weigh up the value of a text is a solid aim. Expecting them to write coherent, structured texts is also spot on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But expecting them to understand the subjunctive mood, identify different types of subordinate clauses and to identify determiners \u2013 how crucial is any of that? I don\u2019t mean to be rude (especially since you\u2019ve been kind enough to suffer my rantings this far) but have you mastered all those skills? If it makes you fell better I have 2 English degrees and I only discovered what a determiner was when it became part of the Year 4 curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the picture is the same if we move on to maths. Numeracy is vital, methods for calculating answers to problems is going to be so important for daily living. But algebra and dividing fractions at 10? Are we really convinced this is an essential expectation to set for these children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever I hear someone suggest something doesn\u2019t meet expectations, my first thought is \u2018are those expectations reasonable?\u2019 Often they are, but not always, and in the case of the SATs Test I think they are unfit for purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, does it matter whether the Government\u2019s expectations are met? Yes and no. Your child will get through life perfectly well even if they never use the subjunctive correctly \u2013 very few people do. But the insidious problem, is the narrowing of the curriculum that is happening in many schools, just to squeeze in more Maths Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. More is not always better, and more of the same tedious rule-based learning at the expense of science, the arts and PE is just plain wrong. These children have been restricted in their learning through necessity. We shouldn\u2019t be inflicting an unnecessary and unproductively narrowed curriculum simply because consecutive Education Secretaries expect more of our children than we do of ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.eastkent-tutors.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/NC-eng-i-page.png\")
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